Right: Khinalig is an isolated village high
up in the Caucasus mountains about 60 km west of Guba. The people
speak a Daghestani related language.

f you want to visit Khinalig,
make sure you come in summer, as this remote Caucasus mountain
village is inaccessible most of the year. They say the best transport
to the village is by horseback through canyons from the southeast.
Even when the roads are passable, you'll need to go by jeep along
dizzying precipices, ravines and canyons. The trip is not for
the faint-hearted; it's actually quite risky, but most people
who venture it consider the journey worthwhile. At the top of
the mountain, you'll find an isolated village with houses built
on top of each other. In fact, the roofs of houses on the lower
levels serve as the courtyards and gardens to the ones above.
Natives speak a little known, unwritten language and call their
village, "Ketsh" and their language "Ketsh mitsl,"
according to Caucasus specialist Y. Dasheriyev.

It seems that in the past, their
old village was destroyed by an earthquake and survivors settled
down where they began cultivating henna, "khina" in
Azeri, and thus the name-Khinalig.

The village is located 60 km
southwest of Guba at an elevation of 2,100 meters, making it
safe from would-be invaders. Rugged cliffs of limestone and granite
cut the village off from any enemy, not to mention the rest of
civilization.

Roofs of the houses below often serve as the veranda and walkway
for the houses above. The trip to the Khinalig village high up
in the Caucasus is not for the faint-hearted. Expect rough roads,
landslides, steep precipices and rivers to cross. Obviously, there
are no guard rails. Most people organize at least two vehicles
for the journey. The trip is only accessible during the summer
months. Houses hug the hillside. Photos: Oleg Litvin.

Khinalig's original defense
system consisted of fortress walls and towers. The walls have
not been preserved, but you can still see the evidence of one
crumbling pyramid-like watchtower. Older villagers believe that
the tower was also used as a temple for an ancient fire worship
cult.

The language spoken by the Khinalig
people is peculiar because it bears no resemblance to the languages
spoken in nearby villages. It is believed to be related to a
family of languages spoken in Daghestan [formerly part of Azerbaijan
but located in present-day Russia]. An estimated 2,000 people
are native speakers. It is assumed that the people of Khinalig
are descendants from the old tribes of Albania, the ancient name
of present-day Azerbaijan, but which bears no known relation
to the other Albania in Europe.

Not only do the people speak
differently in Khinalig, they don't look like typical Azeris
either. The are quite tall with sturdy builds. Many are fair-haired
and have gray or blue eyes.

Life in Khinalig
Most of the people in the village lead a nomadic life, caring
for cattle and sheep which graze in alpine summer pastures. Summers
are cool and winters are relatively mild, considering that snow
always covers the ground. The land does not support crops except
for barley. Fields and hillsides are covered with a sweet-scented
grass, superb for raising sheep used for cheese, meat and wool.
Women are involved with weaving carpets and knitting shawls,
mittens and socks.

Many traditional Khinalig homes
have only one room. In those which have two stories, the first
floor is used for household needs, and the second one for living.
The majority of houses have no windows, just holes in the ceiling
that allow light to come through. Often, the roof is used as
a path or sidewalk by the neighbors directly above. In this way,
houses are built like terraces against the mountainside.

Take Mirza Malikov's house,
for instance. Its simple one-room building has a staircase that
leads to an open verandah. In the roof are two holes that allow
light in and smoke out. The walls are plastered and white-washed,
and fit the house's modest interior. Shelves all along the walls
hold bedclothes, pots, plates, dishes, and containers of flour
and grain. A "tunor" (the Khinalig word for oven) sits
in the middle of the room and is used to bake bread, cook, and
heat the house. The Malikov family often gathers around the tunor
to eat and warm themselves.

Another common sight inside
Khinalig houses centers around the carpet loom. Girls learn carpet-making
from childhood. According to tradition, each girl must make carpets,
mats and other articles for her dowry to take with her when she
sets up her own household.

The people get their water from
a spring "Khanjal Bulaghy (Dagger spring) which is about
a kilometer away from the village. Water runs by gravity through
a 20-30 cm canal and branches into three arms by special ceramic
pipes. The water is cold, pleasant tasting and good for drinking.

Khinalig "Must-Sees"
If you do make it to Khinalig, try to visit the fire worship
tower, called "Atashgah," as well as the local mosques.
Like its counterpart near Baku, this tower indicates a place
where gas emissions used to seep out of the ground and burn eternally
without producing smoke.

Mosques in Khinalig look much
like the houses, except that they are larger; they do not have
minarets. The Joma {Friday} mosque is the largest, and was renovated
in 1968. The mosque in the Gamk quarter is curious because it
features a narrow adjoining room called a "zulmatkhana."
A wrongdoer would spend time there in order to be relieved of
his sin. This practice is not common in Islam, which indicates
that it was possibly a belief preserved from an earlier religion.
In the Sheikh Shalbuzbaba mosque, make sure to look for the carved
wooden column that features older local art. (The other columns
had to be reconstructed, only one of the original columns remains.)

The people of Khinalig, like
those in other places throughout Azerbaijan, pay great attention
to welcoming guests, infrequent as they may be. They are known
for extending warm hospitality to those who dare to make the
difficult trip.